Homelessness in Eugene

Homelessness in Eugene has been apart of most peoples lives who have lived here for years. But have you ever stopped and considered how the person ended up homeless? Have you ever considered their story? As a people here in Eugene, we have become desensitized by how we see homeless people treated and it’s time to say enough is enough. We have constantly seen them harassed by street sweeps and by the EDP with little solutions being talked about. Why haven’t we set up temporary housing and recruited people for jobs? We could be helping our economy and creating more jobs creating this housing for house less people. This could help lead to people getting treatment and mental health treatment some people desperately need. Rather than trying to fill our prisons, why don’t we prevent people from going to jail in the first place? Petty theft and trespassing is big parts of working in retail and in food in Eugene now a days and it’s mainly people trying to survive and just have some food. People should be donating more money and food to food pantries and grocery stores should donate more food to the people than wasting it. Instead of throwing away product that expires that day, they should donate it to a good bank or local food pantry. If you have some bread that’s going bad or some cans that have been sitting around, donate it to a local food pantry and/or food bank! The city cleared out tents under the bridge by the Whittaker Skate Park and left the locals with little questions of why they did that. They weren’t hurting anyone and it gave them a space of their own. Even employing some people to do street cleaning of garbage or river cleaning of garbage could create more jobs and help people. Not enough is being done for the citizens of this city and it should change. Theirs a lot of misconceptions about how all homeless people are drug addicts and criminals and not enough talk about their stories and how they got into this position. Humans need to use more compassion and help each other rather than put each other down. If you’re looking to donate, Food for Lane County is a great place to donate and volunteer! There are a lot of local food pantry’s all around and even getting a bag of McDonald’s and a couple dollars can help change someone’s day! Ask your friends and family too how they’re doing and check up on people! You never know what the people are around you are going through, so become more familiar with the people around you and invest in them rather than big companies. People over profit, all day, every day.